#PERSONA 5 ROYAL NEW GAME PLUS PLUS#

On Merciless mode, I found these sections to be the game’s greatest weakness. The more Musou-esque sections should have either been the entirety of how combat was tackled or not incorporated at all, and only the boss battles provided a real sense of challenge. I discussed how, on the standard 3 difficulties during a first playthrough, most mob fights were thoughtless. It tries to be both a standard character action title and a Musou, but these elements’ combination fails to make either aspect prosper. Persona 5 Strikers feels way too indecisive for its own good. After doing all that, my opinion on the game is mostly the same save for a few select caveats.

I did eventually progress past that tutorial fight and completed 5 of the Jails. Never before did the game offer a challenge of this level during its standard 3 difficulties. I was baffled and found the immense jump in difficulty pretty humorous, but I was also indescribably excited. I will be honest I had no idea what the hell to do when first beginning the game here because the tutorial battle 2 shotted me. Mobs who were once mindless fodder in a normal playthrough are now forces to be reckoned with and can kill you in 2 or 3 hits.Įvery enemy has been amplified tenfold, which makes prevailing in this mode a true test for the adept. If you jump into Merciless mode unprepared, you will likely grow frustrated in even the first encounter.

#PERSONA 5 ROYAL NEW GAME PLUS PLUS#

Rather than the developers having to limit themselves with making this difficulty beatable on a first playthrough, they instead forcefully relegated it behind New Game Plus so that they could go all out with difficulty. Merciless mode is strictly designed for New Game Plus, which I found to be a smart decision. This mode is only unlocked when completing the post-game, and just about every element from your prior save carries over. I felt a sense of morbid curiosity when beginning the game again on Merciless difficulty.

This lack of combat time throughout most battles and the lack of needed utilization of what the game provided made the cast ultimately play like hollow shells, which did not truly differ from one another aside from their elemental affinities. Still, aside from buffs and debuffs becoming far more prevalent than they were in the main game, I had this odd unfamiliarity with how each character controlled. These fights were relatively simplistic but were certainly more thrilling than what the base game provided. Granted, the post-game content that unlocks with the extra boss battles was legitimately great. The utilities I had such as character combos, the way everyone individually felt, buffs, and debuffs none of them were ever necessary to understand or use, even on Hard mode. Still, essentially, I find longer battles far more effective for understanding character nuance in action games, rather than short bursts of occasional mashing, which is what Strikers tends to be. It is a difficult critique for me to vocalize.

Despite there being a few fights, especially near the end of the game, where more thought was required, it felt too little too late and not enough of realized potential. I would be able to mash through with little to no thought for every battle minus boss fights and the post-game. However, that design choice did not feel like it complemented the type of enemy frequency the game provided. Like other Musou titles, the mobs are essentially just fodder. And that’s because most mob fights felt relatively thoughtless. To briefly recap my thoughts, while the movements of combat itself flowed and connected in a gratifying sense, battles rarely ever felt long enough or even challenging enough for me to really sink my teeth into what these characters were capable of.įor instance, I legitimately did not manage to ingrain various characters’ combos even after playing as them for lengthy periods of time.

It was fun, though it did not hit that sweet spot of character action and enemy frequency. I won’t sit here and say that the combat is incapable of enjoyment. The issues I discussed prior lingered on my mind as the credits rolled. Gameplay-wise, however, I was still yearning for far, far more. Narrative-wise, I won’t go into specifics, but I was satisfied with the conclusion. After beating Persona 5 Strikers, I felt somewhat conflicted.

Persona 5 royal new game plus